Song of the Lost Soul
by nightwolf13
Summary: When the Dark Signers are defeated, Yusei and the newly named Team 5Ds are getting back into the normal rhythm of life. But Goodwin's deepest and darkest secrets have yet to be discovered. And with the defeat of one evil comes another, greater evil to take its place. Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's, or the Characters. Only the OCs.
1. Info

Characters:

(S)Akiza Izinski: (17) Black Rose Witch (Black Rose Dragon) Psychic Duelist

(S)Crow Hogan: (17) (Blackwing Dragon)

(S)Jack Atlas: (17.5) (Red Dragon Archfiend)

Leo: (13) Powertool Dragon

(S) Luna: (13) (Ancient Fairy Dragon)

(S) Yusei Fudo:(17.5) New Domino City Champion (FC)(Stardust Dragon)

Yuki Fudo (OC):(16) (Tsukiyomi Dragon)

Bruno:(18) Mechanic

Sherry LeBlanc:(19) Meets Yusei at Fortune Cup

Elsworth:(40) Butler of Sherry LeBlanc

Carly Carmine:(16.5) Reporter

Mina:(28) Sector Security Officer

Officer Trudge: (30) Sector Security Officer

Misty Tredwell:(19) Super Model (Former Dark Signer)

Kalin:(19) Duelist (Former Dark Signer)

Team Caesar (OC): Meet Yusei at Fortune Cup

Kai Tatsuno: (17)

Rei Yukimura: (17)

Sato Yukimura: (19)

Pairings:

Yusei x Akiza

Jack x Carly

Crow x Rei

Kalin x Misty

Trudge x Mina

Yuki x Kai

Sherry x Sato

Side Notes:

Sherry, Elsworth and Bruno meet Team 5Ds at the Fortune Cup, where Sherry is a spectator.

Akiza is taught how to ride a duel runner by Yusei shortly before her Shadow Duel with Misty- indeed, her shadow duel with Misty is a Turbo Duel.

Descriptions:

Yuki Fudo:

Age: 16

Dragon: Tsukiyomi Dragon (Lvl. 8 Dragon/Synchro; Attack: 2800/Defense:2000(Requirements: "Tsuki" Tuner & 1+ monsters) Type:Ice; Abilities: When the opponent activates a spell/trap/monster effect that would result in the destruction/removal of cards from the game, you can sacrifice one other "Tsuki" monster from your hand or field to negate that effect and destroy that card. Remove 2 counters from Forgotten Lunar Sanctuary, to summon a level 4 or lower "Tsuki" monster from your deck.)

Physical Characteristics: Long,straight black hair with gold streaks; cobalt blue; pale skin; criminal marker on cheek

Clothes: Black skinny jeans, black combat boots, sleeveless white shirt and a mid-length purple runner hoodie (imagine Yusei's WRGP jacket, but a hoodie version.)

Abilities/ Positions: Guardian of the Full Moon (Tsukiyomi Dragon), members of Team 5Ds, Turbo Duelist

Team Caesar: Made up of Kai Tatsuno, Rei Yukimura, and Sato Yukimura. Made their debut in the European Dueling Cup as a visiting Japanese Team. Return to Japan for the Fortune Cup, and decide to stay for the WRGP. Team of psychic duelists; originally try to get Akiza to join their team. Meet Crow when he helps Yusei fight against Dark Signers. See Dark signers as they face off against their Signer counterparts. Meet Yusei, Jack, Leo,Luna, Akiza, Sherry, Elsworth, Bruno, Mina and Trudge at Fortune Cup.

Kai Tatsuno: Childhood friend of Rei and Sato

Age:17

Trademark Monster: Silver Wolf Warrior (Lvl. 9 Beast/Warrior/Synchro; Attack:2900/ Defense:2400; (Requirements: Beast Warrior Tuner & 1+ monster) Type: Wind; Abilities: When this card attacks, if you have 2 or more other Beast Warrior type monsters on the field, this card can attack twice in the same battle phase. If this card is destroyed, you can special summon one of the monsters used to synchro summon it.)

Physical Characteristics: Brown hair; Green Eyes; tan skin

Clothes: Black Jeans,Dark Green T-Shirt, Long-sleeve black runner jacket ( imagine Sherry's jacket)

Abilities/Positions: Leader of Team Caesar, light psychic duelist, Turbo Duelist, "Beast King"

Rei Yukimura:Childhood friend of Kai

Age:17

Trademark Monster:Bellona,Goddess of War (Lvl.7 Warrior/Synchro;Attack:2700/Defense:3000

(Requirements:Warrior-type Tuner & 1+ monster) Type: Light; Abilities: When this card attacks another monster of equal or lower attack points, destroy 2 spell/trap cards on the this monster is attacked you can switch its attack/defense by sacrificing one level 3 or above monster from your hand or field.)

Physical Characteristics: Dirty blonde colored hair, brown eyes, tan skin

Clothes: Black Leggings under jeans shorts, red T-shirt under half-length mid-arm jacket.

Abilities/Positions: Member of Team Caesar, light psychic duelist, turbo duelist, "Warrior Goddess"

Sato Yukimura: childhood friend of Kai, elder brother of Rei

Age:19

Trademark Monster: Vulcan, Overlord of Iron (Lvl. 9 Mechanical/Synchro; Attack:3000/ Defense:2500;(Requirements: Lvl.4+ Tuner with "Master" in its name+ 1 mechanical monster)

Type: Earth; Abilities: When this card is summoned, search your deck for "Elucidator, Sword of the Overlord" equip card, and add it to your hand.)

Physical Characteristics: Dirty Blonde colored hair, light brown eyes, tan skin

Clothes: Jeans, white T-shirt, Long-sleeve brown runner jacket (similar to Yusei's normal one)

Abilities/Positions: Member of Team Caesar, light psychic duelist, turbo duelist, "Overlord of the Iron Fortress"


	2. Prologue

Prologue:

Location:?,Satellite

The little girl screamed and struggled, kicking and hitting anything within reach. Her brother was out and she was guarding their temporary camp. The kidnappers didn't seem to notice her struggles- they just caught her fists and bound her small hands. Throat raw from screaming, she could only watch as they dragged her away from everything her could call "home". She knew her big brother would worry- he always did. She longed to be back in Satellite, because no matter how rough it was, she had big brother with her. But now, she was all alone.

10 Years Later...

She didn't remember when she'd last seem the light of the sun. She was the candle lamp that it up her dark, dry cell everyday-that was true- but the real sun she'd last seen that when she was a scared 6 year old. She moved as much as the long chains around her wrists let her. She struggled against her imprisonment for weeks and whined and complained as only a 6 year old could. But by the time she was 8, she was quiet, weak, frail- and broken. She'd learned the hard way that crying, protesting and trying to run away wouldn't do any good, so she endured it all. When she'd been brought there, she was branded as a criminal, but no one bothered to tell her why she was even there. All she was was Satellite scum, as the guards so often cared to remind her. She'd given up pretty much all hope of freedom- everyone there had too. Yuki was by far the youngest- the kid closest to her age was about a year older than her. His name was..Tom?...no, Toby. He'd been brought by the Arcadia guards, apparently. Yuki talked to him once at the psychic duels that they were forced to participate in. The duels left them physically hurt- she'd even broken a few bones in a particularly nasty one. Of course, the decks they were given couldn't win, but they weren't allowed to surrender.

Yuki had first learned the word "mother" from a lady who she sometimes saw at the duels- a fellow prisoner in her early 20s who had slight psychic powers. She'd once been part of a duel gang in New Domino City, but had gotten sent to the Arcadia Movement for testing when they found out she was a psychic duelist. Her name was Anna, and she was the only one who Yuki could ever attribute the word "mother" too. She gave her a strange sense of security, like her big brother had, in those few moments that they got to talk to each other. After one particularly bad psychic duel, she hadn't gotten back up from being thrown across the room; and the guards had to drag her away. Yuki hadn't see her since then. That's when she was broken again- her "family" was broken again. And she couldn't do anything about it. Now, only Tsukiyomi Dragon could keep her company in her dreams, telling her stories of the past. It would be the last time that anyone there would break Yuki Fudo.


	3. Chapter 1

Team 5D's Garage...

It had only been a couple of days since they had defeated Director Goodwin- and the signers had gratefully used them to catch up on sleep and- in the twin's case- homework. Yusei Fudo could describe his emotions with one overall word: relief. Relief that the battle was over, and his friends were all safe. Misty, Kalin and Carly were all freed from the demonic possession, and had been brought back to life. They had returned to their former lives as much as they could; Kalin worked with Yusei, Jack and Crow in the shop, while Misty was hanging out at Akiza's place till the public calmed down. Tonight was a celebration for many things-Crow becoming a signer, Goodwin being defeated- and everyone being together. Sherry LeBlanc, Elsworth and Bruno had also joined the party, having met Team 5Ds- as they were now known- at the Fortune Cup.

Misty, Kalin and Carly had already apologized profusely to everyone, and then individually apologized to each of their signer counterparts. Misty, Akiza and Carly had developed an immediate friendship, and were laughing away with Luna in a "girl's chat". Akiza was always smiling now, and seeing her so happy made Yusei want to smile. She was so much happier compared to her time under Sayer and the Arcadia Movement as the "Black Rose Witch", and she was finally being adopted into real society. She'd also changed quite a bit. Instead of always wearing her trademark dress, she was also being more of a 'normal' teenager. Misty had managed to convince her to come to the party in jeans, a casual T-shirt and a mid-arm, short jacket. She'd even managed to get Akiza to replace the old hair ornament for controlling her psychic powers; instead she wore a limiter necklace, and was letting her hair grow longer;a few long bangs framed her face, while the rest was left untouched. It was truly a miracle what a few friends were doing to the once feared and misunderstood girl.

Leo was gleefully scarfing down any food that could be found in the little celebration wasn't too fancy, so it didn't have much food, but its purpose as a little celebration was still completed. Mina and Trudge were busy with Sector Security's investigation into Goodwin's property, so they randomly texted Yusei or Akiza, asking about how the party was going (only Mina, since Trudge wouldn't dare admit that he was curious about the party) Crow, now a signer, was constantly arguing with Jack, while Kalin stood and watched his two younger "brothers" with a smile on his face. Sherry was talking with Bruno about the latest runner models and Elsworth was quietly monitoring the situation, wincing as Leo scarfed down food without manners. Yusei smiled, standing off to the side as he finished reading Carly's latest post about the Dark Signer battle. That is, until Trudge **called** him- which meant that there was something serious. Yusei, serious at once, moved upstairs as to not disturb everyone else.

"Yusei! Get everyone-especially Misty and Akiza- down to Goodwin's mansion._Now._ Sector Security found something..." he hesitated "nightmarish. Just come here quick!" Yelling was heard in the background "Team Caesar is already on their way." Yusei sighed, putting away his phone. It would have been nice to have one relaxing evening in his 17 years of life. But life didn't really seem to care at the moment. He walked down slowly- and then sped up remembering Trudge's tone. His serious face immediately caught everyone's attention; the laughter soon died. Everyone looking at him, he open his mouth to speak-

"Yo, Yus! What's up? Is there some-" Crow began loudly.

"If birdbrain would SHUT UP, maybe we could actually find out." cut in Jack. Kalin whacked them both over the head, eliciting a few yelps, when he sensed the head signer's glare.

"Do us all a favor and _both_ shut up." rubbing his hand. Their heads were _hard._ "Whatever it is, it's gotta be pretty important if Yusei's glaring at you like that."

"But Jack-" Crow began.

"-will be punished later. You, shut up. _Now._" Akiza looked both straight in the eyes. Both gulped and shut up under her glare, all protests dying in their throats.

"Thanks Aki. Now, I hate to spoil your fun, but Trudge called us all over to Goodwin's mansion. He said they found 'something nightmarish.' He specifically said that Misty and Aki needed to go."he finished, motioning to the two girls on the couch. Akiza and Misty immediately rose.

"Maybe they found something on Toby!" Akiza turned to Misty, hopeful expression on her face.

"I swear, if he hid something about my brother from me.." Misty's fists were clenched " I hope hell is burning really hot right now."

"Faster we leave, the sooner you'll know." pointed out Leo.

"Be a bit more sensitive Leo!" Luna whacked her twin on the head.

"Let's get going." Yusei turned towards the runners. "Leo,Luna, Misty and Carly can take the Jeep. The rest of us can ride our runners."

Leo sighed in disappointment- he'd been looking forward to bugging Jack about riding his runner. They split up, getting onto their various rides scattered around the garage. One by one, they all peeled out of the garage and turned to the outskirts of New Domino City-where Goodwin had summoned his Earthbound Immortal.

Akiza rode beside Yusei on her runner, watching her friends in front of her. She turned to look at the person beside her. Yusei was her savior- he rescued her from Sayer;from herself-he'd given her another chance. He'd even taught her how to ride a runner-which was more than Sayer had ever done for her. He'd repaired her relationship with her family, and given her a circle of friends that she used to dream about. She couldn't help but marvel at the strength and courage her must have to do everything. He was their leader- the strongest of the signers, and always supported his friends- no matter what.

Yusei couldn't shake the odd feeling that had come over him since Trudge had called. It was a feeling her hadn't had since he had found out that his sister was gone-more like disappeared. He gripped the handles tighter and clenched his teeth. He'd gone out for 5 minutes- _5 minutes_- to find something for them to eat, and when he got back, she was gone and her precious deck- her first gift from their parents- was scattered all over the floor. She treasured her deck from her parents, just like him.

_Flashback..._

_Yusei was 5 and a half years old; Yuki was 4. His mother was taking them to visit his Dad, who was working on the Ener-D reactor. He had no idea what it was, but it sounded cool. When they got to the room though, he heard shouting, and few moments later his Dad ran out, holding several cards. His Dad had quickly told his mother something, and she visibly paled. His father had handed his mother a stun gun to use, then grabbed them and ran for the nearest emergency launch pad. Yuki, frightened, had started crying, and was clinging to Yusei tightly. When they got there, his Dad had handed him one set of cards, and gave the second set to his sister, patting her head like he would any day. His mother had hugged them quickly, while crying._

"_Take care of Yuki, okay?" she whispered. She gave both a quick kiss on the forehead, and their Dad had tousled Yusei's hair, like he would when he was proud of him. Then, he had pushed them into the emergency capsule, and pulled the lever. The last thing Yusei saw of his parents was them smiling as the windows behind them exploded. He'd called for his parents, reaching his hand out as though to grab them before blackness overtook him..._

_End Flashback_

When she vanished, he'd gathered her scattered deck- including her favorite, Tsukiyomi Dragon- and stored them in a small box he found. He knew she was much too attached to her cards to treat them that way, so something must've happened. He'd looked for her all over Satellite-that's how he had met Martha, Jack, and Crow. He'd only told Martha about his sister- he couldn't bear to tell anyone else because he'd failed his sister, his parents and himself and he didn't want to drag anyone else in.

Akiza watched Yusei's facial expressions, changing from thoughtful, to tense and pained. Rarely would he let his emotions show on his face like this- unless something was really disturbing him.

"What's wrong Yusei?" she called over the bike intercom.

"..."

"Yusei!" she called again, now certain something was wrong.

"Sorry. What's wrong?" he replied, startled.

"That's what I was asking, because I've known you long enough to know that you don't act like this unless you are dueling, working or trying to figure something out. And the first two don't apply, so..." she trailed off, looking at him.

"It's nothing important." he called back,not wanting to worry his friend. And besides, when had he become so easy to read?

Akiza noted his answer, knowing that is Yusei didn't want to talk about it no one could get him to talk.

" 'kay. Race you to the mansion!" she said, revving her engine to pull in front.

"You're on!" he called back, pushing his memories to the background.

As they pulled up at the mansion, the first thing Yusei noticed were the ambulances and sector security vehicles. Detectives had been expected, probably with some Sector Security for safety, but the medics were unexpected. He wondered if there had been some sort of accident. Crow, Kalin and Misty were already talking to Trudge when Yusei and Akiza pulled up. Mina was talking to Sherry and Elsworth, while Jack waited with the twins and Bruno, staring up at the bleak mansion. Luna was hiding behind her brother, holding onto Kuriboh, frightened of the dark,looming mansion where Jack,Yusei and Crow had dueled to save the world. It still gave he nightmares. Leo was silently looking at the building,for once quiet and serious. Jack,it seemed, intended to keep his distance from the entire place.

Yusei and Akiza joined Kalin,Misty and Crow quickly, parking their runners near the jeep. Trudge had been talking about various documents that they'd found in Goodwin's office-plenty regarding the Ener-D reactor, and the separation from Satellite.

"Good, you're all here. Jack, you, Sherry and Elsworth may also want to hear this," said Trudge. Leo and Luna drifted over too, silently looking around, along with Bruno, who was questioning Mina. The newly arrived Team Caesar joined the group as well, Kai tossing his arms around Yusei & Jack's shoulders. Rei greeted Akiza and Crow, while Sato said a quick hello before going over to talk to Bruno.

"Hey Yusei! Introduce us!" said Kai, gesturing to Misty and Kalin. Yusei sighed; turning to Akiza and pleading her to do it for him.

"Kalin, Misty, this is Kai Tatsuno, and Rei and Sato Yukimura of Team Caesar. Team Caesar, this is Kalin Kessler, and Misty Treadwalker." said Akiza, pointing out each person.

"Now that everyone knows each other can we _please_ continue with our previous topic?" interrupted Trudge, rather annoyed at being ignored. Yusei, Jack and Crow were startled. It must be pretty bad for Trudge to be using the forbidden word "please".

"Does everyone remember the close ties that Goodwin had with several "mysterious" benefactors to the city?" questioned Trudge. Leo and Luna shook their heads, along with Team Caesar, who had been abroad touring in Europe for several years. "Well-"

"One of them was the Arcadia Movement." interrupted Mina, startling the whole group. Akiza sucked in a sharp breath, while Misty's fists instantly clenched.

"That's not good..." mumbled Luna. Mina looked at the youngest signer.

"You're spot on, Luna. Why do you think Sayer let Akiza participate in the Fortune Cup so easily? Arcadia was generally known as being rather secretive regarding its top members. Goodwin and Sayer were working hand in hand- but Sayer didn't know about the Earthbound Immortals or Goodwin's plans regarding the signers. Goodwin, however, knew everything about Arcadia- he has some of the deepest and darkest files on Arcadia in his study. It seems he planned to have one of his Earthbound Immortals take care of Sayer- at least until Carly did it for him." Carly winced at the memory of her transformation into a Dark Signer and the destruction of the Arcadia Movement headquarters. "Misty, do you remember what Sayer said about your brother's location?"

"Hold up. What does Misty's brother have to do with any of this?" asked Rei.

"My brother was a 'test subject' for the Arcadia Movement." seethed Misty. Rei nodded, while Akiza calmed the older girl down and answered Mina's question for her.

"He said that the test subjects were sent to an "unknown" location..."

"Right. Unknown to you and to himself. But Goodwin knew where." she said. " Right under his wonderful mansion- in a sort of 'prison'."

Stunned silence reigned- none of them had imagined Goodwin to be that cruel. Then Misty lunged forward, grabbing Mina's shoulders. The poor woman dropped her files in surprise, stumbling backwards.

"Is Toby there? Have they found him? Is he okay?" she began, grasping Mina like there was no tomorrow. Kalin gently pried Misty off the startled Mina, while Trudge gathered the fallen files. Everyone who had known the super model was surprised, having never seen her act like this before. Akiza calmed the older girl down, forcing her to take deep breaths, "Misty, calm down. You're a nervous wreck, and it won't help."

Misty steadied herself and nodded, apologizing to Mina. "You're right. I'm sorry for loosing control."

"Actually, it would be easier for you to understand the situation if we all went there right now. If there was confusion as to the medics... well, you'll see soon enough." said Mina.

Mina led the way toward the makeshift hospital tent that had been set up outside in the gardens outside the mansion. Misty, albeit having calmed down, ran desperately towards the hospital, and only stopped when she saw the occupants of the hospital. Most were haggard and beaten; it was visible that they were all clearly malnourished. All were older than 20- some almost 40 years old. But the most common feature was that they all carried the same criminal mark on their cheeks. Most were men, but a few women seemed to be scattered here and there. They all looked up at the newcomers with tired, expressions, seemingly devoid of all emotions, and will.

"It seems that many were criminals from Satellite who had small offenses, but minor powers, specifically psychic powers. They were targeted as subjects for Arcadia. Those who weren't psychic were brought here because they had some relationship to someone important in New Domino City- for example, there are records of a cousin of one of the heads of department. Those from Satellite already had the criminal mark, but the Arcadia subjects who came from New Domino City- like your brother, Toby- were branded so that they wouldn't stand out if someone came to know of this place. Goodwin planned it so that he could claim they were all high security psychic prisoners- and no one would be the wiser. Especially because they came from Satellite." said Mina. Akiza felt sick as she looked upon rows and rows of beds with their frail occupants.

"Even Satellite criminals get better than this,"commented Yusei, "and if they weren't even grave offenders..."

Misty scanned the mass of people, one by one, hoping to see a familiar face. A cry from the corner caught her attention.

"Sister!" cried a feeble voice from the far corner. Misty turned to see a boy, not older than 18, with midnight black hair, and her same eyes. Misty tore through the rows of beds, crying; then threw her arms around her younger brother.

"Toby! You're alive! You're alive.." she repeated hysterically, sobbing into her brother's shoulder.

"Yeah..." His arms were full of cuts and bruises, and they could only imagine as to how he looked underneath his shirt. He winced as Misty held him tighter.

"Sister.."

"Oh! Sorry!"she exclaimed, immediately releasing him. Akiza moved towards him, bent on making things right.

"Toby, I'm really-"

"It's okay Akiza. It wasn't your fault at all. I went there on my own anyway." he cut in.

Akiza smiled, but Yusei could still see that she felt guilty for having brushed him away instead of helping him.

"Why're you all cut and bruised?" asked Leo, out of childish curiosity. Misty too, turned to look at her brother for an answer.

"They forced us to have psychic duels..."he mumbled quietly, "everyone, psychic or not. Even little Yuki..."

"Yuki?"

Toby turned to see a teen with spiky black hair shot with gold, wearing the logo of Team 5Ds on a blue runner jacket. "Mmm.. Yuki Fudo. She was at least two years younger than me. Why?"

"Did she say anything about her family?" persisted Yusei, standing at Toby's bedside.

"Umm...She mentioned having an older brother named Yusei who owned Stardust Dragon...But still, why are you so interested in Yuki?"

Yusei didn't wait to give an answer; he ran straight to Mina, who had gone to talk to one of the doctors about Toby, and demanded the list of people that had been found. When he didn't find her name on the list, he grew anxious. Kai, who had understood what was going on, grabbed Yusei's shoulder spinning him around.

"Yusei! Calm down. From what I've understood, they still haven't found everyone. She could still be in the mansion." Turning towards the group, he called Akiza over. "Hey Akiza! We might need your help on this."

"Akiza?"

"Yusei, its a prison for psychics. There is no way we are going to get through those cells without the help of a powerful psychic- strong enough to break the barriers at least." replied Kai.

"I'm still in the dark about this...Yusei, you have a sister?" interrupted Akiza.

"Can I explain it later? To everyone?" said Yusei as he began walking towards the mansion. Akiza nodded and followed along with Kai.

_Back with the group..._

"Misty? Why was he so interested in Yuki Fudo?" questioned Toby.

"Toby, you were talking to Yusei Fudo, the owner of Stardust Dragon."

"Oh.. So that's Yuki's big brother?"

"Hold on. Yusei has a sister? Since when?" demanded Jack.

"He never told anyone... wonder why." pondered Crow.

"Because he was upset with himself. He felt as though he had failed his sister and his parents." murmured Luna. Everyone look at her in surprise. "That's why he was so close to his friends, and why he fought for them so much. He didn't want to loose them like he lost his sister."

"How do you know that Luna?"asked Misty, noting the looks of surprise on everyone else's faces.

Luna looked up slowly, her eyes slightly glassy. "Ancient Fairy Dragon told me so."

"Are you a psychic?" questioned Toby, rather surprised at this revelation.

"She can talk to duel monster spirits- rather, she is connected to the Spirit World." responded Rei in her place. She noted that the youngest signer was swaying on her feet- most likely weak from connecting to the Spirit World.

"That explains it... By the way, I don't think I've had the pleasure of meeting everyone." responded Toby.

"Right. That's Jack Atlas, Crow Hogan, Leo and Luna, Sherry LeBlanc and Elsworth- her butler, Bruno, Rei and Sato Yukimura, Carly Carmine, Mina, Officer Trudge, and Kalin Kessler." said Misty, pointing out every person individually. " The brown-haired that left is Kai Tatsuno, leader of Team Caesar."

"Pleasure to meet you all." said Toby, smiling brightly.

"Where'd Yusei go?" asked Leo curiously.

"Probably to see if he could find his little sister..."

_Meanwhile Inside Goodwin's Mansion..._

Yusei sprinted down the various corridors, Kai and Akiza not far behind. He scanned all the cells in this corridor; they were all open, but a dark corridor further down caught his attention as a few rays of moonlight cascaded down, probably from an open window.. It was't obvious; it turned a sharp corner and looked like a dead end, but something was causing his mark to pulsate. Kai and Akiza joined him looking down the corridor.

"Is it just me, or is there something telling us to go down this corridor?" asked Akiza, gazing at her softly glowing mark.

"Mm... It looks like it was designed to be hidden.." threw in Kai, analyzing the architecture.

"Really? The moonlight illuminated it quite well..." said Yusei.

Both Kai and Akiza stared at him, rather surprised.

"Yusei, there is no window. We're 10 feet _underground._" said Kai.

"Might've been a lantern then..." he said, brushing it off. Then, he remembered a time when the same thing had happened- it was late at night and he'd been running away from gang members with Yuki...

_Flashback..._

_The figure of a boy and little girl could be seen running through the narrow alleys of Satellite. Desperately running from the laughing figures behind them, them turned corner after corner, the little girl desperately holding on to her brother's hand._

"_Run little mice,run! It'll just make the chase more exciting! Those cards will still be mine come dawn!" called a rough voice behind them. The little boy paid no heed, pulling even harder. The little girl, caught unaware, stumbled from the change in speed and fell._

"_Yuki! Are you okay!" asked the boy, kneeling beside her._

"_I-I don't know.. my ankle hurts." whispered the little girl, "Yusei, you should go!Take the cards and go hide. They don't want m-me..."_

"_I'd rather hand them the cards than leave you behind. Come on; we can hide somewhere." He pulled his little sister up, and looked for a place to hide when she pointed out a hole under some rubble._

"_Why not there? It's big enough for both of us..."_

_Once the danger had passed, they waited for a bit before getting out and going in the other direction. Yuki still limped badly, so Yusei gave her a piggy back ride for a while. When they settled down behind some rubble for the night, Yusei grew curious._

"_How did you see that hole under the rubble, Yuki?"_

"_Some moonlight hit it..." Yusei was confused. It was the night of the New Moon, so there wasn't any moonlight, on top of that, it would have been from the wrong direction...It didn't matter. It saved them, that was all that mattered..._

_End Flashback_

He'd written it off as pure chance, but it could've been the exact same thing- a sign of some sorts.

"Let's try it. It seems to be the best chance right now." he said, moving into the darkness.

"Here! Catch!" said Kai, tossing him a flashlight. Yusei nodded in thanks.

The light hit a large steel door, bolted and with a keypad. Yusei and Akiza's marks were glowing ever more fiercely as they neared;when they came to the base, Kai whistled.

"Is your sister a psychic, Yusei?" questioned Kai.

"No, definitely not..."

"You know I remember reading some file that Sayer gave me about a little girl who was under intense security because of her heritage- she wasn't a signer, but something similar, just for a different dragon." mentioned Akiza, looking up at the doors, "He told me that Goodwin was very interested in both her and her brother...Do you think he could have been talking about your sister?"

"It's possible, seeing as he was also interested in me because I was a signer..." muttered Yusei, "Do you think you could destroy this door Akiza?"

"I think Black Rose Dragon can handle it...you might want to step back a bit though."

Both males stepped back towards the walls giving the more powerful psychic enough space to manage to summon her famous beast.

"I summon Black Rose Dragon!" she yelled drawing the card onto her duel disk. Black Rose Dragon materialized behind her, vines whipping the air. The dragon roared and nudged Akiza's shoulder, looking at her owner with intelligent eyes.

"Black Rose is telling me that she can't sense any malicious intent, power or feeling from beyond the doors, so its safe to go in." said Akiza, "Black Rose, can you please remove the door- gently please?"

Black Rose Dragon advanced on the door slowly, using the thorns on her vines to pry the door off it hinges.

"That's good enough! Thanks Black Rose!" said Akiza. Black Rose Dragon roared once, then disappeared. As her dragon disappeared, Akiza stumbled backwards. Yusei ran forward, catching her and setting her next to the wall.

"Sorry.." she breathed out, "I'm still not that good at mentally controlling my powers..."

"You've gotten way better though. You should rest here for a bit; we'll be back soon." he said, ruffling her hair. Akiza pouted but agreed, knowing that she would only drag them down. She curled up against the wall and was soon sound asleep.

Turning to Kai, Yusei nodded, and they slipped through the hole to the other side.


	4. Chapter 2

"Holy..."

That was the sole word that left Kai's mouth as the two stared down the dark hallway. At the end was a single cell, with a lone occupant in the shadow of the single lamp. Yusei advanced quickly- he had a bad feeling about this. As they approached it was visible that the person was chained- several black iron chains extended from the corners of the room to the person's wrists. Long hair fell in waves;black and seemingly streaked with gold. The cell was clean, unlike many others, but totally dry and bare- not even a cot could be found. The girl- it was now obvious- wore a plain white, straight dress, and was painfully thin like the other prisoners.

Hearing new noises, Yuki dared raise her head to see beyond the confines of her small cell._ "It's probably Goodwin coming to tell me of his grand achievements..."_She was pleasantly surprised to see that it wasn't- instead, two boys now stood outside her cell. Her vision was blurry from lack of light, but she could vaguely see them after a few seconds. "_He looks like brother..."_ she thought, "_but Yusei should be dead-that's what Goodwin told me..."_ Uncertain and confused, for the first time in years, she dared call out for her brother.

Yusei was still. As soon as he saw the girl's cobalt blue eyes that were identical to his own, he knew. Her hair, too, was another dead give-away; its black and gold streaks were the same as his own. She was weak and pale, and a criminal marker decorated her cheek, but besides that her features were almost identical to how she was 10 years ago.

"Yusei?"

Her voice shocked him to reality. She was looking straight at him, squinting as if she couldn't see very well; most likely because of the voice was questioning, almost uncertain, was weak and thin.

"Yuki..." he whispered. She perked up at the mention of her name, almost daring to hope.

"Brother? Yusei? Is it you?" Suddenly Yusei was filled with rage. Goodwin had already messed with his life enough, but finding out that he had almost destroyed his little sister's life was way worse. He wasn't sure if hell existed, but at that moment he sure hoped it did.

"Yeah.. Just hang on a little bit Yuki! We'll get you out of there." he said with absolute certainty.

Kai had stood to the side as he watched Yusei talk to his sister in years. He noted that the cell itself was not made for a psychic- with Akiza's help, they should be able to break it open easily. He slipped around to the back and made his way to where Akiza was resting.

"Hey Akiza! Can you stand?"

"Mmm...Yeah, give me a sec." She stood shakily, using the wall for support.

"We'll need your help to break open the cell bars- it shouldn't be that hard though. They weren't built to be psychic-proof like the door was."

"Sure."

Moving forward while leaning on the wall, they passed through the remains of the door and walked toward the back of the hall. Akiza heard Yusei talking to someone, and a weaker voice calling him "brother". So they had found Yusei's sister here. When she approached the cell, she saw the girl chained to the wall, with cobalt blue eyes and black and gold hair, she almost thought she was Yusei's twin. One would have to be stupid to think that they weren't related, or otherwise totally oblivious.

Yusei turned and saw Akiza leaning on Kai. "I hate to ask you again Akiza..."

"It's okay. I can handle it." she said, letting go of Kai's shoulder and balancing on her own feet. "I summon Twilight Rose Knight!"

A knight covered in rose petals came forth, carrying a double edged blade. She nodded once, telling the knight to destroy the bars and the chains. He swung his sword and in two strokes cut away the metal. He turned to Akiza, bowed, and vanished, leaving her panting slightly.

Yusei had caught his sister when the chains broke; laying her gently on the ground. Her cobalt eyes stared straight at him, and she smiled slightly, then glanced at Akiza and Kai before letting them slip closed. Yusei knelt beside her and grabbed his sister's hand to feel her pulse, finding it weak. He forehead was also hot; she was feverish and her body was wracked with chills.

"We should get her to the surface; they can give her basic treatment at the tent." said Akiza. She noticed the long cuts- some still open- and bruises, similar to Toby's, that covered the girl's torso. She could only imagine the pain of the psychic duels they were forced to endure here, day after day. Yusei nodded, and picked her up gently, starting towards the door. Kai and Akiza followed, giving one last glance at the cell that was a prison for years. Coming to Yusei's side, Akiza glanced at Yuki, then turned to look at Yusei. His face was a mixture of joy, sadness and worry; unusual for the normally calm signer.

"How long has she been missing Yusei?" asked Kai out of curiosity.

"...10 years..." Akiza's breath hitched. That meant that from 6 years old she had been subject to psychic duels that caused physical injury. It was a wonder that she wasn't already insane, like some of the other prisoners. Toby had only been missing for a year, and even he was slightly confused sometimes. Some rehabilitation would cure him of that, but for Yuki to have not gone insane, there must have been something protecting her. The girl mumbled something in Yusei's arms, and then cried out for her mother. Small tears found their way down her cheeks, and Akiza reached over to wipe them away. Yusei turned and gave her a sad smile before turning his attention once again to the younger girl in his arms.

The wind suddenly howled and blew down the corridor, pushing them back. Similar to how the Crimson Dragon descended, a light blue, silver dragon descended, wings outstretched, blocking the passageway. As the light from the flashlight hit the wings, it reflected, looking like a moon ray.

"That's the light that pointed out the corridor..." said Yusei, gazing in wonder at the beast. Its form was familiar, almost as if he had seen a card like that... That was it! Tsukiyomi Dragon!

His _sister's _dragon!

"Tsukiyomi Dragon..." muttered Yuki, opening her eyes slightly and reaching a hand out. The Dragon extended its muzzle and allowed itself to be petted gently.

"So you were guarding Yuki and me through the years... you saved us that time in Satellite!" said Yusei. The Dragon looked at him, crystal blue eyes boring into his own.

"_Guard my guardian, Signer. You should well know the burden of being a guardian for my Solar counterpart. She is my sole guardian, for the moon stands alone in the darkness. But the moon needs a light to reflect in order to shine."_

Yusei felt a bad premonition, but it quickly faded.

Yuki's hand slipped from the Dragon's muzzle, and the dragon nosed her gently. Her eyes closed slowly and the dragon gave him, Akiza and Kai one last gentle look before fading into the background.

"Was that just me, or did you guys also see that?" asked Kai, glancing at the other two. Both nodded silently, then continued moving forward, as if it were totally normal for them;it probably was because of their lives as Signers. He looked at the two of them from behind, thinking that they would look good together, before running to catch up.

_Outside..._

The trio entered the make-shift hospital, and Yusei carried Yuki over to a bed near Toby's. Toby had fallen asleep, but the rest of the group had spread out nearby-Mina and Trudge had to return to the investigation, but Jack, Crow, Kalin, Misty, Leo, Luna, Bruno, Rei, Carly and Sato had remained close to Misty, talking with some of the other prisoners. Sherry and Elsworth had left- she had a match the next morning- but had told the others to call her if need be. When Yusei came over the group reformed hovering near Toby and Yuki.

"Hey Yusei! Care to explain **why** you didn't tell us you had a sister?" said Crow loudly.

"Rei, please shut him up. He's gonna get us kicked out." begged Akiza. Rei, sighing, turned to Crow whacked him on the head, causing him to bite his own tongue. He whimpered for a few seconds, then fell silent, fearing her wrath.

"Yusei? You still didn't answer the question." said Jack.

"I don't really have an answer... I mean, I told Martha, but I didn't wanna get you guys involved too, especially not back on Satellite, when we were kids. With the Fortune Cup and the Dark Signers, I didn't want to put something else on you guys, so there was no point in telling you."he said softly, looking back at Yuki. Jack was rather startled. Even back then, Yusei was protecting them by not getting them involved, while he was out searching on his own. It was no wonder he would sometimes come back home late and dirty as a kid; they always thought that he was searching in the scrap piles...

_Flashback..._

_A nine year old Yusei stomped through the rain towards the large brown house in Satellite._

"_Yusei! Get in the house! You're gonna catch a cold!" yelled a younger Martha from the doorway. As Yusei went back inside Martha sighed once more at his dirt-smeared clothes._

"_You've gotta stop looking. You're just gonna get more injured. You know she wouldn't want that." scolded Martha, whispering the last part. "You're too young. Maybe when you're old enough to take care of yourself, then you can. But I won't have you injuring yourself everyday under my roof."_

_A younger Jack and Crow stood around the corner, listening to Yusei getting scolded._

"_You think he's been searching the scrap piles, Jack? He never told us..." said Crow._

"_Probably. I mean, he's always dirty, and its dangerous, so it explains the bruises." Jack stuck his nose up in the air. "Not like I would care."_

_Crow smirked, then pointed to one of the younger kids playing in the other room. "Look! Akira got cut!"_

_Jack immediately turned around, "Where?" _

_Crow snorted, trying not to laugh. "Like hell you don't care!"_

_Jack growled, pissed that the younger boy had gotten the better of him. He lunged for Crow-_

"_I also don't want peeping toms under this roof! If you need something to do, go get some firewood for the fire place!" Martha held both boys by the scruffs of their shirts._

_Jack huffed and Crow smirked again. "Saved by the bell..."_

"_I asked for some wood! It ain't gonna walk from the shed!" yelled Martha from the kitchen._

"_Coming!"_

_End Flashback..._

"She looks like an angel..." Luna whispered softly from beside Yusei. He saw the younger signer place a wet towel on Yuki's warm forehead. Yusei looked at her curiously, and she pulled out a duel card from her deck. It was a picture of a black-haired angel with a white dress, who had bright blue eyes and golden sun rays turning some streaks of hair golden. She carried a glowing object, and was surrounded by a bright blue sky. The name was "Lost Soul", a magic card that allowed you to regain control of a monster on the field that was under the effect of a monster effect, spell or trap card.

"Mmm... She is one too." he said, smiling softly.

"Great. Now Yusei's going all soft." said Jack, rolling his eyes. All the girls, with the exception of Luna, who was too sweet, glared daggers at him. He shrunk back, and started a conversation with Sato and Kai, who were attempting not to laugh at him.

_New Domino City Hospital, 1 Week Later..._

Yusei and Akiza were waiting in the hospital lobby. Yuki was being released that day and Yusei had gone to pick her up. Akiza had tagged along; she wanted to meet Yuki and also wanted to spend sometime with Yusei. They had been talking for a while, mainly Yusei asking about Akiza's plans after school. Frankly, she wasn't sure. She loved dueling, but even after everyone's support and help, she was still terrified of her powers. Nightmares still plagued her sleep; the Black Rose Witch arising and destroying everyone that got in her way- including her friends. And she was chained like a rag doll within her own mind. Her own screams woke her up several times- thank goodness her parents were often out, and that the rooms were soundproof.

She couldn't help but wonder if she could ever be 'beautiful' like Yusei had said she was. Her thoughts turned to the man sitting beside her. She was sure she loved him, but there was no way she would show it. Yusei was beautiful; strong, brave, caring, helpful.. heck, the list could go on forever! While everyone accepted her, she knew that the past was something that couldn't be erased, like a shadow can't be cast out. The shadow of the Witch would always hang over her, whether she liked it or not.

She snapped out of her thoughts when she saw the medial doors open. Yuki walked out slowly, looking around nervously. She was wearing the new clothes that the girls had gotten for her on a 'girl's day' at the mall. Black combat boots, long black skinny jeans, an a white sleeveless shirt topped by a mid-length hoodie that could also be used as a duel runner jacket. Her long hair was trimmed to her waist, and shone brightly in the sun. '_She looks better than before; at least she isn't as malnourished.'_ thought Akiza. Yuki had been in the hospital for longer than most of the other prisoners- most were examined and then sent to temporary apartments given by the city. Those who needed severe rehabilitation were forced to stay at least 3 weeks, but they were few and far between. Toby had been released several days earlier after an overnight stay at the hospital because of his confusion, which turned out to be a simple case of malnutrition and dehydration.

Yuki was forced to stay a week because of her initial fever, which was worsened by her poor immune system, and weak body, once again due to malnutrition. She also had a series of long open cuts on both arms and legs, most likely from the psychic duels. A minor fracture in her left ankle required a brace, which was to stay on for at least 2 more weeks. Her eyes were also weak from the lack of sunlight, so the doctors were forced to perform a small operation to save her eyesight. It had kept her in the hospital for longer, but they'd healed quickly. Due to her fragile state though, she hadn't been allowed any visitors; not even her older brother had been able to come, although she'd heard someone that sounded like her brother yelling outside the door to her room once.

Yuki stood uncertainly by the medical doors, unused to all the noise and movement. She found herself wondering whether anyone was even there to get her- she'd vanished for 10 years, and she wasn't sure about what her brother would be like. What if he'd changed? The what ifs' plagued her mind, until she saw a tall figure with spiky black hair and golden stripes moving quickly towards her along with a shorter red-haired lady, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. A closer inspection showed that it was indeed Yusei, and the lady that she had seen along with her brother when they had rescued her. When her brother stood in front of her, Yuki didn't know what to say or do. She'd probably caused him to worry, so she should apologize, and ask him to forgive her for leaving him alone for 10 years.

"Brother, I'm very sorr-"

Yuki never finished as Yusei pulled her into a tight hug. She was first startled, but soon buried her face in his jacket as she cried. Of course he didn't change; he was her big brother! She was stupid for even thinking that he would forget about her. Suddenly the pain of having not seen him for 10 years came flooding in, and she cried even harder, holding onto his jacket as tightly as possible.

Yusei didn't expect his little sister to want to apologize, and he most certainly didn't want her too. Instead, he wrapped her in the biggest hug he could. She was crying, and he understand why. He just patted her back like his mother used to, slowly calming her down.

"Yuki, I'm sorry."

Those words caused her to stop and look at her brother. "Why?"

"Because I'm your older brother." Yuki stared at him like he was crazy.

"I wouldn't want any other big brother!" she said, laughing. Yusei's heart lightened; she didn't hate him for not having saved her. "I'm glad you're okay." she said. Yusei let her go and tousled her hair. She pouted, and he chuckled, causing her to stick her tongue out at him.

Akiza watched the two siblings from a distance. She knew that Yusei was worried about how his sister would react; his nervous attitude said that. '_I'm glad they're okay..'_ she thought, smiling as the younger girl pouted and stuck her tongue out at her brother. She'd never thought about having a sibling before; she'd already had bad enough relations with her own parents. But looking at the Fudo siblings almost made her wish she did have a little brother or sister to dote on and take care of. She was so lost in her thoughts that she almost didn't notice the elder Fudo calling her over.

"Yuki, this is Akiza Izinki. She's the psychic who helped free you, and a member of Team 5Ds. She also happens to be the senator's daughter." he threw in casually.

Yuki, who was extending her hand for a hello, immediately stopped and bowed. Akiza slapped Yusei's arm lightly, as he suppressed laughter at his sister's formal reaction.

"Don't mind this idiot," she said, "you can just call me Akiza. Do you like the clothes we chose for you?"

"Y-yes. Thank you very much!" replied Yuki, smiling slightly.

Akiza looked for any signs that showed that she was nervous about being near a psychic, due to her treatment at the hands of the Arcadia psychic duelists, but found none. Albeit being a bit shy, she seemed rather... normal, considering she'd spent 10 years locked up."It was our pleasure! By the way, you look so cute!"

Yuki blushed as Akiza complemented her, and Yusei noted that she had indeed grown quite a bit. She was also rather beautiful, meaning that he would definitely have to look out for any guys going after her. She was as beautiful as Misty, although Akiza was slightly more beautiful in his opinion. '_Wait. Since when did I start comparing other girls to Akiza?!'_ he thought, blushing slightly. It vanished as soon as it came, and thankfully went unnoticed by either girls.

"-sei. Yusei! Geez, why do all boys space out so much?" grumbled Akiza, "Can me and the girls take Yuki out for a shopping trip sometime this week before school starts?"

Yusei nodded, remembering that Yuki was indeed going to school the next week. She would be a late transfer, but as soon as Akiza's parents had heard about her, they had demanded that they be allowed to pay for her tuition for a least a year, so she could at least get some schooling. She had taken the entrance exam while she was recovering at the hospital, and had passed with minimum marks. She would be transferring in as a 2nd year student a duel academy; Akiza was just one year ahead of her as a 3rd year.

"That reminds me! Yuki, who taught you?" asked Akiza as they walked through the front gardens toward the parking lot. Yusei listened to her, curious as to that as well. "Not to be rude, but after 10 years..."

"Its okay. A bunch of the other prisoners taught me in the beginning; they had a few books with them. When they moved me to the other cell though, they stopped me from seeing them. I only saw them a few times when they made us duel." she replied softly.

"Why'd them do that?" asked Akiza, glancing at Yusei to make sure he was listening.

"Goodwin said I was getting "too powerful"; that I needed to be contained." she said. Looking up, she saw both of them looking at her. "I'm not psychic though! I don't have powers like Akiza or Toby..." she said nervously.

"He probably meant your guardian powers. They've been developing as you grow older, so he probably feared that you could get away." said Yusei. Akiza nodded, remembering their conversation with Tsukiyomi Dragon.

"You mean with Tsukiyomi?" she asked curiously, "I never knew there were powers in being a guardian- I mean, I would just dream about her sometimes. I can hardly call myself a guardian when I failed to guard myself..."

Akiza stopped and grabbed the younger girl's hand tightly, having known the same feeling.

"Just became you need someone's help doesn't mean you're weak. We're not perfect, and not one person on earth could ever be. Someone helped me enough to make me see that." she said, smiling as she glanced up at Yusei. He nodded, then flicked Yuki's forehead.

"Eeep! What was that for?!" she yelped.

"For being dumb." Yuki grit her teeth, then jumped at her brother, latching her arms around his neck to drag him down. Yusei, caught by surprise, ended up on the grass, and Akiza doubled over laughing at his expression. Yuki was sitting next to him with smug expression as she saw her brother laying flat on his back.

"Oh, you are sooo getting it Yuki!" Yuki paled and ran as hard as she could from Yusei who caught her and tickled her to death. After a moment they both flopped over and lay flat on their backs next to each other.

"Remember how you always did that to me in Satellite?" said Yuki, thinking about her time with her brother.

"Yeah. And you decided to get revenge by putting a cockroach in my hair." he responded. Akiza laughed as she sat down beside them. " That's a good one! I'll keep that for future need! Your hair is perfect for it."

Yusei grumbled and attempted to pat his hair down, only to have it spring straight back up. "It's not my fault that my hair wan't stay down!"

Yuki smiled sadly as she remembered her dad and his own crazy hair. Yusei had definitely gotten his looks, while she thought she resembled her mother, Mia Fudo, more.

"We're gonna be late if we don't hurry now." said Akzia, looking at Yusei.

"Late for what?" asked a confused Yuki.

"The Team meeting. Well, more like a let's-greet-a-new-member meeting along with some other people." replied Yusei, also getting up. He extended a hand to Akiza, who allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. From the ground, Yuki smiled. There was no way she wasn't going to use this to tease her brother.

"We're leaving you behind if you don't move Yuki!" called Akiza, a from a few meters ahead. Yuki immediately jumped up, but winced as she landed on her fractured ankle. As she ran ahead to catch up with her brother and Akiza, he flicked her forehead again.

"Again?! What was that one for?!" she grumbled, massaging her forehead.

"Last time I checked, you had a brace because of a minor ankle fracture."

"And?"

"That means no jumping, running, or harsh activities allowed for 2 weeks _minimum._"

"Last time I checked, you were my brother, not the doctor." she grumbled under her breath. Unfortunately for her, Yusei heard her muttering.

"Last time _I _checked, the responsible older brother has to look out for the irresponsible younger sibling."

His comment was received with a near swat to the head from Yuki.

"If the garage is half demolished by the time we arrive, please know that you're gonna be responsible!" called Akiza from her runner. Yusei paled as he remembered Crow and Jack in one place.

"Why's that?" asked Yuki curiously.

"We have some rather..._irresponsible_ friends, who love to fight." replied Akiza as they arrived at their runners.

"Last time they argued, they managed to make the new engine that we were testing out explode." grumbled Yusei, remembering the black smoke pouring out of the garage. "I left them for _5 minutes_ to go and get the new thrusters from the shop! Luckily we had a spare.."

Yuki looked at her brother, who grumbled as he remembered their numerous 'accidents'.

"You're also a mechanic? Kinda like Dad, right?" asked Yuki.

"Kinda. I just don't work on energy sources. We're looking into new engine and system designs for runners."

Yuki gave him a blank look.

"You don't know what a runner is right?" asked Akiza from her own runner. "You probably never saw one because of your..._ absence._"

Passing her hand over Yusei's runner, she nodded. Tilting her head like a small child she looked at her brother for an explanation.

"You use a duel runner for turbo dueling. It's like dueling while racing a motorcycle. You'll pick it up really quickly- I mean, Akiza got her license after only 3 weeks."

"Mmm. It looks really cool! Could I build my own runner- like yours?" she questioned eagerly. Akiza glanced at her rather surprised. She had almost instantly figured out that Yusei's runner was made by hand. It looked like mechanics ran in their blood.

"Maybe, granted that you can also do your homework at the same time."

"Deal!"

"Good. Here; catch!" he said, tossing her a spare helmet. She caught it and put it, sliding smoothly onto the back of her brother's runner. She was rather nervous, and held onto her brother tightly. When he revved the engine, and pulled out of the parking lot after Akiza, she began to relax. She looked around at the bustling city life; traffic flowing in and out like water on the roads. As they pulled up to Poppo's Time, Yuki saw that Akiza had beaten them there, and was leaning back on her runner, relaxing in the sun. Yuki noticed her brother's attention shift, and resolved to make good use of it. As they pulled off their helmets, she slid off the runner and whispered something in her brother's ear.

"Do you like Akiza?"

The question caught him off-guard, sending the normally calm teen into a state of spluttering as he tripped over his own feet, ending up flat on the laughed heartily, watching her brother turn bright red.

Akiza turned and saw Yuki laughing loudly, then saw the elder Fudo on the ground, with a bright shade of red dusting his normally pale features. Yusei stood up, smirking. He was _so_ getting his sister back for that. Another laugh caught his attention, however, and he turned to see Akiza doubled over in laughter.

"Yuki got you really good, Yusei!" It took a lot to unsettle the head signer, but he had turned a bright red after Yuki had teased him. It truly was a close sibling relationship.

Yusei huffed, then turned and then walked his duel runner into the garage, which was cluttered with all the spare parts for the engine they were building for the WRGP. Akiza followed, pulling in her own runner, and Yuki trailed her, after having noted that Yusei _didn't_ deny that statement. As they walked in, heads turned in their direction. Feeling herself under scrutiny, Yuki hid in Akiza's shadow. Akiza noticed her nervousness, and after resting her runner, pulled her over to the couch, where the other girls, namely Misty, Carly, Rei, Luna and Sherry, were sitting. Misty stood up gracefully, and surprised Yuki by hugging her. Pulling back, Misty introduced all the other girls, who took turns in hugging her. Luna, the last, hugged her, and then made her sit down next to her. Conversation started smoothly, and Yuki was soon laughing alongside them.

Yusei watched from his perch with the other guys near the windows. They'd been discussing the latest engines, while Leo pestered Sato to teach him new techniques for his machine deck. Yusei had been distracted though, making sure that his sister was feeling at home with everyone else.

"Yusei! God, you're such an overprotective brother! Finish the damn calculations already!" yelled Crow into his ear. Yusei cringed, and rubbed his now sore ear. The other guys, who had turned when they heard yelling, held in a snicker, while Leo was outright laughing.

"Look, Yusei. I get that she's your sister and all, but you've gotta be absolutely stupid to think that everyone else isn't capable of protecting her as well." said Sato, "It's something that I also learned the hard way, so don't worry."

"Oh yeah! What was it you did to figure that one out? Follow her to a friends house on a sleepover and hide in their tree?" said Kai, snorting. Sato turned coughed and turned red, looking the other direction.

"I only did that because-"

"Cuz' you're her older brother. Now can we finish the damn equation already?!" said Crow.

"For once, I must agree with birdbrain. I want a cup of coffee after this." said Jack. Yusei glared at both, then solved the equation in a few moments. Crow glared at the paper; 20 minutes' worth of time wasted!

"You forgot to divide by _xℓ_ Crow. The speed is dependent on the power of the thrusters too, so you can't eliminate that." said Yusei. Crow huffed, then turned and used the tweezers to make the modifications to the engine model.

"Aren't you tweaking the wrong wire?" came a voice from beside him.

Crow turned to see Yuki crouched beside him, pointing out a different wire. Yusei glanced back to see that the girl's group had dispersed; Akiza had gone home, along with Misty and Toby, who were currently crashing at her place. Sherry and Elsworth had also left, most likely for another match, and Carly probably had to run to work. Luna had joined Leo, and they were having a mock duel against Kalin as Leo tested out a slightly modified deck, thanks to Sato. Rei had gone over to her brother, and was currently arguing with Jack over which coffee was best? Yup, his friends definitely had their quirks.

"That's the thruster connection, right?" pointed out Yuki, looking at the schematics that Crow held. "Then you should tweak this wire, not that one. That'll change the amount of energy that's being sent to the screens."

Crow glanced at her in amazement.'_Yup. Mechanics definitely runs in their blood.'_ he thought. It had taken him a little less than a week to identify the largest ports and wire connections while still using the schematics. Yuki had looked at them for a few moments and had already identified the correct wires.

Yusei watched his sister point out the right wires to Crow. He wasn't too surprised at her affinity for mechanics- she loved to mess around with the old discards they found in the Satellite dumpsters. She didn't understand the science behind it as well as he did, but she worked well enough with the hardware and software. He even remembered a time when she'd found a discarded duel disk, and repaired the damaged inner boards to some extent. She'd been able to replace the missing wires with spare bits of metal, and had even gotten some of the lights to work. But the extending arm and the software was too damaged to repair, so they'd been forced to throw it away.

Yuki had gotten up from her place beside Crow and looked around at the schematics hung up on the other walls. Kai was watching her very intently; it wasn't everyday you saw a girl like her, who had gone through so much, but decided to get back up on her own two feet. Of course, she was still unused to the rest of the world, and she seemed rather akward and shy with others. '_But,'_ he thought,_'that's rather normal for having neever interacted with other people.'_

Yusei had gone to stand next to his sister, and was explaining one of the system designs. She was nodding as he explained and was pointing out possible modifications. It was really quite surprising that the girl was even, as the other girls dubbed them, a 'grease monkey'. He hadn't really noticed, but now that he looked at Yusei and Yuki, they looked almost like twins. Her hair was the exact same color and pattern as her brother's, just not spiky. Her eyes were the exact same cobalt blue, and they even had their respective markers on the same side of their face.

"She's pretty, right?"

Kai wheeled around to see Luna staring straight at him. She had Kuriboh in her arms, and was smiling at him. "She's really nice you know. You should talk to her sometime." Before he could clarify she had skipped away to watch her brother finish his match against Kalin, who was leading the boy by a good 2300 life points.

Yuki was staring at an old a furled schematic that she had found in the corner. It seemed to be the designs for a bike/runner cross. It would allow for greater mobility on the curves and it would also be easier to use normally. It seemed like someone had planned to build it, but never got around to it.

Yusei saw his sister looking at an older schematic in the corner. He had also seen it, but didn't have the time to waste building it at the time; they were in the middle of preperations for the WRGP. Something in the corner of page made Yuki freeze, then look at the scroll as if it were solid gold.

"Yusei! Look at the designer's name!" She ran over with the scroll, then carefully unrolled it fully under the lamp. Pointing to the corner, there was a little scribble. Yusei looked at it more carefully under the lamp, and found it to indeed be 4 letters.

Fudo.

His heart literally stopped. It was _definitely his Dad's signature._ This had been his _dad's_ workshop. No wonder the old lady had been so kind and eager to give it to him! She'd known his father!

"This was Dad's!" said Yuki. "He probably worked here with mom!"

Yusei flipped the parchment over. The back had a little tag on it, with 'Yuki' on it. She froze.

"I'm going to build this one Yusei."

"But you can't build a runner without having a deck." He grabbed his sister's hand and pulled her upstairs. On the second floor, he pulled open a drawer and pulled out a box. He handed the box to his Yuki, who looked at him curiously. When she saw the contents, she tackled Yusei to the ground. Everyone looked on in surprise as the head signer laughed and ruffled Yuki's hair.

She got up and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

"Thank you, big brother."

She sprinted down the stairs, a deck in hand.

"Yuki! I told you, NO RUNNING!" came a voice from upstairs.

"Sorry!" came the joyful reply.

"Sorry my foot." muttered Yusei coming down and rubbing his head. Crow snickered, and Jack smirked.

"Could I duel you Rei? Please?" Yuki begged. Rei was rather surprised. Glancing at Yusei, who nodded, she turned to face the younger girl,

"On one condition. You are definitely going to let me do your hair for the Duel Academy Ball."

"...There's a ball? Like the ones in fairytails?"

"You didn't know? You're starting school in less than a week and you don't know about _the Ball_, the biggest Ball in the City, that's in 4 weeks!?"

"Isn't 4 weeks a long time?"  
"Never! The Ball takes at least 3 weeks to prepare for. Hair, make-up, dress, shoes...Misty is soo going to love this!"  
"I have to wear a _dress?!_"

"Of course! Don't even think about wearing casual clothes!"

"Rei... aren't you getting a bit too excited? The poor girl hasn't even started school; much less have time to think about a _Ball _that is _four weeks_ in the future." Rei huffed, turning to her brother.

"Just because _you_ never went to the Ball, Sato Yukimura, doesn't mean that everyone else doesn't have too!"

"You sound like mother."

"...Oh, you are _soo _lucky I have a duel rigtht now."

In the meantime, Yuki had escaped and taken her brother's duel disk. She stood at the opposite end of the room, going over her deck quickly before sliding it into disk. Rei pulled out her own duel disk, and inserted her deck.

"Ready."

"Ready."

"DUEL!"


	5. Chapter 3

"_DUEL!"_

"I'll start! I summon Level 3 Tuner, Reina of the Infantry! Due to her ability, I can call another member of the Infantry from my deck or hand! I call Level 2 Page Leona! I synchro summon Level 5 Belephagor, Horse of Kings (2000/1600)!"A tan stallion, with a black-fire mane reared on the field. "I place three cards face down, and activate Belephagor's ability! By destroying two set cards on the field, I can search my deck for an equip card! I play the magic spell Gold Harness! This grants Belephagor 500 extra attack points as long as I have 2 or more warrior-type monsters in my graveyard! Your turn, Yuki!" finished Rei.

"I summon Level 4 Tuner Priestess of the Full Moon, Tsukirumi (1600/700)! Then I play the field spell Forgotten Lunar Sanctuary!" A priestess dressed in a traditional white Japanese kimono appeared on the field, followed by a change in scenery as a temple appeared on a lakeside surround by trees. "As long as I have one Tsuki monster on my field or in my graveyard, it cannot be destroyed by magic, trap or Card effects, and you can't activate other field spells. Every time I summon a Tsuki monster, it gains 1 counter. I can remove that counter to either move a level 2 or lower "Tsuki" monster from my deck to my hand or one Tsuki monster gains 300 attack and defense points till the end of the turn. I remove the counter to take Level 2 Tsuki Owl(500/1000)! Tsuki Owl's special ability allows me to discard one card from my hand and summon it directly onto the field! I synchro summon Level 6 Tsukimira, Guardian Wolf (2300/1600)!" A large black wolf with a cresent moon printed on its forehead emerged, howling loudly.

"Tsukimira's ability! By removing one counter from Forgotten Lunar Sanctuary, I can destroy one spell or trap card on the field." Rei's card, which had been the trap card Metal Shield, was instantly sent to the graveyard. "Because Tsukimira is a "Tsuki" monster, I gain one more counter, which I remove to give Tsukimira 300 more attack points! Tsukimira attacks Belephagus, Horse of Kings!"

A large clawed paw tore through Belephagus as the large black wolf lunged. Rei:3900/ Yuki:4000.

"I set two cards and end my turn." called Yuki, "I activate Tsukirumi's ability, which is activated during my endphase! If it was used for a synchro summon of a "Tsuki" monster the same turn that it was summoned, the opponent cannot use trap cards for the rest of their turn!"

" Fine. I draw! I summon level 4 Cavalry Knight Mira (1800/1400)! Mira's ability! If a higher level warrior monster was destroyed last turn, I can special summon one level 3 or lower "Infantry" monster from my graveyard. I special summon Level 3 Tuner Reina of the Infantry! I Synrcho Summon! Arise, Bellona, Goddess of War (2600/3000)! I then activate the equip spell Sword of Ares, which grants 500 extra attack points to Bellona, and can be destroyed in her place. Bellona atacks Tsukimira, Guardian Wolf!" The large sword-bearing goddess swung at the black wolf, who howled and disappeared.

Yuki:3200/Rei:3900

"I set 1 card and end my turn!"

"I draw! I summon Level 4 Tsukiyuri(1700/1000)! I remove the counter from Forgotten Lunar sactuary to summon Level 2 Tsuki Owl! Then I activate Tsukiyuri's effect! By removing one Tsuki monster from my field from play, I can special summon another Tsukiyuri! Tsukiyuri's second effect! If 2 Tsukiyruri's were summoned in one turn, I can choose to turn one of them into a tuner! With this, I synchro summon Tsukiyomi Dragon(2800/3000)!" The pale white/blue beast that they had seen in the hallway of Goodwin's mansion once again appeared on the battlefield. She roared her approval, then turned and nuzzled Yuki's cheek, surprising most of the spectators.

"I then remove 2 Tsuki counters from Forgotten Lunar Sanctuary with Tsukiyomi Dragon's ability to special summon Level 4 Winged Armory! Becuase of its ability, when Tsukiyomi Dragon is on the field, it is automatically destroyed and sent to the graveyard, from which it is automatically resummoned to my trap and spell card zone as an equip spell, which grants 500 extra attack points and the ability to attack twice more by discarding the top 4 cards of my deck! Tsukiyomi Dragon attacks Bellona, Goddess of War!"

"I discard Sword of Ares' to avoid its destruction!"

Yuki:3200/Rei:3700

"I discard the top 2 cards from my deck to the graveyard to attack again! Tsukiyomi Dragon attacks Bellona, Goddess of War again!"  
Yuki:3200/Rei: 3000

"I discard two more cards to my graveyard!Tsukiyomi dragon attacks you directly!"

Yuki:3200/ Rei:0

"That was fast." Yuki turned to see her brother walking toward her. "Only 4 turns to beat the 'Warrior Goddess'."

"Warrior Goddess?"

"That's Rei's title among European tournaments."

"That was really well played Yuki! Where'd you get your deck?" Rei ran up to her and hugged the younger girl.

"Dad gave it to me when we were little." replied Yuki, hugging the other girl back. Rei tensed, having heard the story of Professor Fudo and the Ener-D reactor from Mina.

"So that was the deck that Yusei gave you. Not bad." said Jack. "Of course, mine is still better."

"Shut up, Atlas. I beat you easily; for Yuki it would be a joke." Rei wheeled around to face the blond duelist.

"Prove it."

"Fine! Yuki, duel Jack please!"

"Ummm...Yusei?" asked a rather nervous Yuki.

"No. Yuki isn't dueling more than that today."

"But she's a great duelist!"

"She just got out of the hospital!" shot back Yusei. Yuki found this the perfect time to escape the havoc, moving over into the "quiet" corner, where Kai and Luna were. Sato had gone to attempt to seperate his sister, who was going toe to toe with the "arrogant and cocky" blond duelist. Crow and Yusei were attempting to seperate them; eventually giving up, while Leo was, like the little boy he was, cheering on one duelist or the other.

"Not used to the noise?"

Yuki jumped, turning around to see Kai looking at her.

"Yes. They are _really_ loud for being so few..."

"Don't worry; they're not even at their loudest yet. You should see Crow and Jack fighting. By the way, I'm Kai Tatsuno, leader of Team Caesar."

"Yuki Fudo. Its a pleasure to meet you!" Luna poked Kai, and he glanced at her. She smiled, then ran off to try and shut her twin up.

"What kind of deck do you use, Kai?"

"I use Beast Warriors. It's pretty good, I guess."

"Stop being modest, Kai. You know it's one of the strongest decks out there." said Yusei, walking over to the two.

"You beat me at the Fortune Cup."  
"Luck of the draw. If I hadn't drawn the magic card Silver Wing, you would have destroyed Stardust, and left my field totally open to attack."

"Facts trump possibility."

"You're just as stubborn as Jack."

"Speaking of Jack..." both duelists turned to see Rei dueling Jack, who was indeed loosing by 200 life points.

"Some things never change..."

"Care to stay for dinner at this point? I'm sure Crow would be fine cooking something for you guys. And his cooking has gotten a lot better."

Kai snorted. "Yeah. Now he can probably cook an egg without burning it."

"He took some lessons from Martha after Rei shamed him so badly."  
"Oh? Trying to impress the lady I see." Yusei snorted. Yuki glanced at him curiously.

"Crow likes Rei." he explained.

"Like you like Akiza?" Kai doubled over laughing at embarrassed expression on Yusei's face as his sister exposed his secret.

"I thought it was common knowledge..." Yuki cowered behind Kai, whom Yusei was glaring at.

"That'd better not become common knowledge Kai." Yusei threatened, wiping away all traces of his embarassment.

"Don't worry; you guys look really cute together anyway!" chirped in Luna. Yusei groaned. Another person?! Really? Good thing Jack and Crow were too dense to figure it out, otherwise he would be in major trouble.

"We won't tell, right guys?" Kai glanced at the other two. Luna smiled and nodded, and Yuki nodded noticing the distraught look in her brother's eyes. Yelling from the other side of the room got her attention, and she saw Rei sitting triumphantly on the sofa as a disgruntled Jack Atlas served her coffee wearing... a_ pink apron._ Crow was laughing loudly without trying to hide it, while taking multiple photos with his phone, no doubt to send to the rest of the gang. Sato looked undecisive of whether to be happy for his sister or pity Jack, while Leo was jumping around and gleefully pointing out Jack's failure.

"Is that all her highness desires?" Jack's teeth could be heard almost grinding as he offered her the coffee.

"You're dismissed until dinner."

"...LIKE HELL I'M SERVING YOU AT DINNER!"

"Tisk,tisk. You lost the bet. You, Jack Atlas, get to serve me for the _entire_ day. Be lucky its already 7 in the evening; your service is almost over."

Steam could be seen coming out of Jack's ears as Rei forced him to bow as she relaxed on the sofa. Kai and Yusei were laughing heartily; Luna, being the kind soul that she was, gave Jack a pitying look, but under she had a barely conceiled smile.

"This would be the best bet they've ever made, right Yus?

"At least Jack's ego might go down a little." The comment from Kalin caused Kai to nod his head thoughtfully. "If that's the case, we should make these bets every time. It would be like a disciplining school."

"I heard that! And I am NOT a DOG that needs to be DISCIPLINED." The yell from across the room merely cause more snikers from the boys.

"You just proved that you are undisciplined." came the retort from Rei, who once again smiled at her victory.

"Aren't you being a bit mean?" Yusei and Kalin turned to Yuki, who was looking at Jack with a pitying look.

"Right. You just met Jack. Give it a month and you'll understand his ego issues." said Kalin, smiling at the rather bemused girl.

"I say 2 weeks!"

"SHUT IT BIRDBRAIN!"

"Then I say 1 week."

"Not you too Rei..."

"I'll make all the bets I want, Mr. I'm-your-older-brother-Sato."

"...That was a terrible joke, Rei. I am your older brother."

"HEY!"

The entire room, including Crow and Jack, who were in each other's faces, turned to look at Leo.

A small grumbling sound was heard.

"...I'm hungry."

"THEN GO GET YOURSELF A SAND-Ack!"Jack was rubbing his sore head, as Kalin calmly re-slung his jacket over his shoulder.

"You do need disciplining, Jack. You're an adult; he's a kid."

"I don't give a shi-"

_Whack!_

"Language, Jack."

"Jack's getting schooled!"

A w_hack!_ resounded from the other side of the room.

"You don't have the right to tease or be rude, Leo." Leo craddled his head, whimpering, as Luna stood above him disapprovingly.

"If we plan to have dinner-"

"DINNER!"

"SHUT UP!"

"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP BEFORE I SEND YOU IN TIME OUT!"

Everyone sweatdropped."_Time-out?"_

"Sato, I don't think that's going to work."

"Because you're method resolved anything Kalin."

"Please. We are not in a day-care." Rei pinched both boy's noses, forcing them to stop talking.

"Damn..." both boys rubbed their embarrassingly red noses.

"Go Rei!"

_Whack!_

"That's it Leo! You go sit in time out!" Luna grabbed her elder twin's ponytail and dragged him to the corner, sitting him down facing the wall. Those who knew the twins well glanced at each other. Only 2 things could get Luna pissed off. One, if someone insulted her friends (including her deck), or if she had a bad headache. In this case, it was most likely the latter.

"Luna, would you like some ibuprofen?"

"Yes, thank you Kai."

"I'm guessing Leo and Co.'s yelling made it worse right?" Yusei walked over to the newly installed cabinets to pull out a glass for water.

"Mmm... Sorry. Whenever I get a bad headache I get annoyed really easily." Luna explained to Yuki.

"It's okay. I totally understand." Yuki smiled and sat next to the girl.

"Does that mean I can come over there now?"  
"Yes Leo..."

"Awesome! Kalin, I want a remtach!" His stomach grumbled. "And dinner."

"I take that back," muttered Luna, covering her ears.

"Hey Leo! Could you quiet down a bit? Otherwise you'll have to wait for dinner."

At Yuki's threat, Leo immediately sat down quietly, and she smiled, turning to rub Luna's back soothingly.

"_Why didn't I ever think of that threat?!"_ was the thought of everyone in the room.

"No rematch Leo. It's 7, so we should eat dinner." Kalin helped Yusei clear the table of files, tools and runner parts. Crow, who had disappeared, came in carrying two large plates of pasta, one with tomato and the other with Pesto. Sato helped by carrying in the large bowl of Salad, while Jack brought in a few more chairs.

"Dinner!"

Leo was the first to sit down, Luna and Yuki sat on either side of him, and Yusei sat at his sister's right. Rei sat at one end of the table, and Jack at the other. Crow, Sato, Kai and Kalin sat on the other side of the table, and Yuki found herself facing Kai.

Leo was staring hungrily at the pasta that Crow was serving. Sato had managed to get Rei to 'release' Jack from his service, but the two continued glaring at each other over dinner. Leo was talking to Sato about his morphtronic deck, while stuffing his mouth with pasta. Luna was quietly listening in while occasionally scolding Leo for talking while eating. Kalin and Yusei were talking about the WRGP, while Crow was talknig to Rei about cooking. Jack was silent for once, quietly eating his pasta and sipping on coffee ( What else would he drink? :)

Yuki was disscussing dueling strategies with Kai, who quickly understood the structure of her Tsuki Deck and pointed out the the strategies were easy to read if one had seen her duel before. She nodded, and he offered to help come up with some more strategies later on.

When everyone was finished, Crow and Sato cleared the table, while Rei and Jack had a rematch, to which he had challenged her during dinner.

Rei was leading Jack (Read: Utterly crushing) during the duel, albeit the fact that he had spent the entire dinner coming up with strategies to counter hers. This pissed him off to no end. How was he, the King of Dueling, (Well, ex-King) _loosing_ to a _girl?_

Leo and Luna were standing by and watching, Leo cheering for Jack, while Luna quietly supported Rei.

Kai and Yuki were sitting down at the table, looking over her deck, and the structure.

"Don't you think that it would be better if you used Forgotten Lunar Sanctuary's ability to call out Level 2 Tsukiyori, Guardian Angel(600/1500)? Becuase when you put in attack mode you can 'equip' him to another Level 4 or below Tsuki monster. That monster gains his level and attack points, so if you summon the Level 4 Tsukiyuri, then you have a Level 6 monster with 2300 attack points and 2500 defense points. You'd only need a level 2 tuner, and you could summon Tsukiyomi Dragon."  
"But if I do that, then Tsukiyori is open to attack if I can't synchro summon."

"That's why you use the 2 counters on Forgotten Lunar Sanctuary to summon the Level 2 tuner Tsukiri (400/600)."

"What about the attack point boost?"

"In the dueling world now, attack points are gradually loosing their importance; I mean, look at Jack and Rei. Jack uses a power, attack-point based deck, but Rei can use the effects of her cards to stop his power combos, leaving him open to attack. Your deck can run both ways; you can use it as a power deck, and also as a quick deck."

"That's good... I wouldn't change my deck for the world." She picked up her deck looked at Tsukiyumi Dragon fondly before slipping it into the deck box on her waist. "Have you used multiple decks, Kai?"  
"I started out with a warrior deck, then I switched to the Beast Warrior and just continued powering it up over time." He shrugged. "It took a long time, but it was definetly worth it."

"HA! In your face Rei!"

Everyone turned at the exclamation to find a proud Jack lording his victory over Rei.

"Guess miracles do happen!"

"Shut it Crow! You're just jealous because of my skill."

"I agree with Crow."

"Thank you Rei."

"I think that Rei played better than Jack." Luna's soft voice seemed to drown out the others.

"Thank you Luna!" Rei hugged the younger girl, who was surprised but then smiled happily.

"Don't worry Jack! You also played really well."

"Obviously Leo. I am the King of Dueling."

"I think Yusei took that title from you Jack." Sato's comment had the ex-King glaring at Yusei, who had a humored smile on his face.

"That was luck."

"Then Yusei's really lucky; he's beaten you at least 5 times since the Fortune Cup." Kai patted Jack's shoulder. "Anyway, we should get going. It's late, and Rei has to get enough sleep before going crazy at the mall tomorrow."  
"Who are you? My second brother?" Rei flipped her hair over her shoulder. " I can hardly stand Sato when he's in his brotherly mode. Anyway, where's Yuki? I wanna say bye."

"She's sleeping on the couch." Kai pointed out the girl who was indeed laying with her head on a pillow of messy hair, curled up in one corner of the sofa.

"Oh well. Tell her to be ready by 9 tomorrow. I'll come pick her up around 9:10. Oh." Rei turned to Luna "Are you also coming Luna? Because if that's the case, I'll go pick up the Porsche from the garage tomorrow morning."

"You have a Porsche?!"

"We share one..." Sato sighed.

"I would like too, but Leo's going to be alone for the entire day..."  
"Then how about this. You and Leo come over to the garage, Rei picks you and Yuki up, and Leo can spend the day here. We're not going anywhere." Yusei offered.

"Yeh! Jack you are dueling me tomorrow."  
"DREAM ON, BRAT."

"Jack, if anything, you are the brat."  
"Please Crow. Don't start-"

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"I SAID YOU WERE THE BRAT."

"I think we'll be going. Leo, Luna, do you guys need a ride?" Kai turned to the twins "We do live next door so..." After coming back from Europe, Team Ceasare had bought two apartments in the Tops, and found out that the twins were their neighbors. Rei had claimed one, while Sato and Kai shared one. They were practically family anyway.

"Yes, thank you. Leo, let's go!"

"Awww! Come on! Jack was about to duel Crow!"

"Not happening." Kalin moved forward and slapped either on the back of the head, causing them to crash into each other.  
"Hey! That hurt!"  
"It was supposed to. Now shut up."

"Kalin, can I duel you tomorrow?"

"Yes, Leo. I'll duel you tomorrow." Kalin ruffled Leo's hair affectionately, then sent him running towards the door with a slight push to the back. "Now everyone's waiting for you."

"Bye Yusei! Bye Jack! Bye Crow!" Leo ran out the door, quickly followed by an exasperated Luna who quietly thanked them for the dinner.

"Goodnight! Thank you for the dinner!" Kai followed Sato who went to start up the car.

"Right! See you tomorrow!" Rei turned to Crow, who was rubbing his forehead, and boldly gave him a kiss on the cheek. "That's for dinner! See you!"

She quickly ran out the door, and no one saw the faint tinge of red on her cheeks.

"You like him, right Rei?"

"Shut up Kai." Muttered Rei, pulling open the door of the car. Kai shrugged sat in the front with Sato.

_Meanwhile..._

Crow stared out the door at Rei's fading figure, headache completely forgotten. His cheeks were tainted a bright red, and mouth was wide open.

"Crow."

"..."

"Crow." Kalin waved his hand in front of his face.

"..."

"Crow! Snap out of it!" A resounding whack echoed as Kalin used his ever handy jacket. Crow's mouth shut quickly and he wiped the blush from his features.

"That was just... surprising! I mean, how often do you get kissed on the cheek by the girl you like?!"

"... You just admitted that you like her." Crow turned another unhealthy shade of red, and bolted up the stairs to his room.

"Awww. Birdbrain is in love."

"Don't tease, Jack. You're not much better with Carly."

"..." A second pair of feet stormed up the steps and another door slammed.

"At least he didn't deny it." Yusei had calmly watched everything from his perch on the windowsill.

"What about you and Akiza?" Yusei spluttered and choked on his glass of water, spitting it in the trash.

"What are you, a cupid?!"

"It's not that difficult to see, stupid."

"Ah, whatever. Just don't tell!" Yusei walked over to his sister and picked her up gently, all the while a tinge of red on his cheeks. "Goodnight."

"Where's Yuki gonna sleep?"

"In her room."

"Which room?"

"The newly re-designed guest bedroom at the end of the hall. Don't ask me. Akiza and the other girls were the only ones who touched it, so I don't know what it looks like." He added, seeing Kalin's curious glance. Yusei had used the money from the Fortune Cup to purchase the rest of the house from the elderly woman, who had anyway told them that she was looking into moving into the city, with her son.

"Anyway, good night."  
"See you tomorrow."

Kalin closed the door to his own bedroom, which was inbetween Jack and Crow's (They refused to be next to each other.) He'd moved in after the Dark Signer incident, after the boys had offered it to him. He didn't have anywhere else to go, and so he had moved in, rejoining his family. Yusei shifted Yuki in his arms and opened her door. He blinked, rather surprised with the room. It was painted a deep purple, with random black patterns covering one wall. The purple twin-size bed in the corner had white covers with purple stars, matching the blinds. A bookshelf stood on the left wall, next to a closet, while on the other side stood a desk, with a pile of books already waiting.

He carried Yuki over to the bed and dropped her on the bounced mattress. The jolt woke her up, and she grumbled as her brother looked down at her.

"You can shower tomorrow. Just change and use the restroom for now. It's the door to the left of yours." His eyes softened as he looked at the sister he hadn't seen for 10 years. He bent down and hugged her, then ruffled her hair and smiled as she was first surpised and then pouted.

"Goodnight, little sis."

"Goodnight big brother."

Yusei closed the door quietly and walked over to his own room, which was painted midnight blue with black streaks. The team logo was printed above his bed on one of the walls, the other wall was covered with bookshelfs filled to the brim. He got ready for bed and slipped under the covers, mind going back to when his mother would tuck him in. She would tell him to ask her anything that was on his mind. If there was some question that he had unanswered, she would try to answer it for him, so that he could go to sleep with "peace of mind." That habit hadn't left him, and he would scribble down notes before going to bed every day. But today had left him without questions.

Yuki was startled from sleep when she was dropped on something soft. She was half awake when her brother talked to her. She woke up fully when he hugged her. It felt so... nostalgic. No one had hugged her before going to sleep for _years._ She just had to pout when Yusei messed with her hair _again. _Just like on Satellite. She sat on her bed for a while, just reminiscing. She got up slowly and walked over to her closet. She saw several clothes inside, but decided to wait until tomorrow to look at all of them. She pulled out a tank top and shorts, changing quickly before going to use the restroom. Getting back into bed, she thought back on her first day out of "prison" in 10 years. It was fun and exciting, emotions she hadn't felt in a long time. She sighed contentedly before turning off the lights and slipping into bed. She couldn't wait for tomorrow.

* * *

A.N.: Sorry for the wait!


End file.
